Weather System Gets Funding, Obama Questioned Regarding Clean Water

President Barack Obama has signed the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2014 into law.

The bill authorizes appropriations for the National Integrated Drought Information System through fiscal year 2018 and requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to report to Congress on the implementation of the system.

President Obama says the bipartisan legislation ensures the federal government can continue to provide timely, effective drought warning forecasts and vital support to communities that are vulnerable to drought.

Two House lawmakers have sent a letter to President Obama expressing deep concern with the EPA’s plan to expand federal jurisdiction over waters in the U.S. by clarifying the definition of waters under the Clean Water Act.

The lawmakers call these actions another example of a disturbing pattern of an imperial presidency that seeks to use brute force and executive action while ignoring Congress.

According to their letter, unilaterally broadening the scope of the Clean Water Act would adversely affect the nation’s economy, threaten jobs, invite costly litigation and significantly restrict the ability of landowners to make decisions about their property and the rights of state and local governments to plan for their own development.